From Strength to Strength Kingdom

From Strength to Strength: The Kingdom

Luke told the story of what Jesus began to do and teach while He was on earth. Acts picks up the account by telling what He continued to do and teach through the church on earth.

The Gospel of Luke tells of Christ’s ministry on earth in a physical body, while Acts tells of His ministry from heaven through His spiritual body, the church.
Every Christian needs to move out of Luke’s Gospel into Acts. Knowing about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ is enough for salvation but not for Spirit-empowered service. [1]

The kingdom is the spiritual sphere of salvation where God rules as king over all who belong to Him by faith. All believers are in that spiritual kingdom, yet are waiting to enter into the full inheritance of it in the age to come. [2]

The concept of the Kingdom of God is crucial to understanding the Bible.

It refers neither to a place nor to a time,
but to a condition in which the rulership of God is acknowledged by humankind,
a condition in which God’s promises of a restored universe free from sin and death are, or begin to be, fulfilled.

1 Sam 8:6-7 When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the Lord. 7 But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king.

In relation to the Kingdom of God history can be divided into four periods:

Before Jesus,
During his lifetime,
The present age
The future age – Rev. 19:6, 11-16

Which gives an identical description of the OT view of the coming Messiah

The New Testament teaches two seemingly contradictory things about the Kingdom of God:

that it is near or present (this verse, Matt 4:17, Matt 12:34; Lk 17:21),
and that it is yet to come (Matt 25:1, Jn 18:36, Ac 1:6–7).

When someone is baptized: the Kingdom of God comes immediately and truly—but partially—to all who put their trust in Jesus and his message, thus committing themselves to live the holy lives God’s rulership demands.

As an example of the “partialness,” they have peace in their hearts even though there is not peace in the world.
But in the future, at the end of the present age of history, when Yeshua returns, he will inaugurate the Kingdom truly and completely (Rv 19:6); then God will fulfill the rest of his Kingdom promises.

But the whole concept of the Kingdom is meaningless unless the concept is centered on the King!

We must be careful not to base our concept of the Kingdom of God on anything other than the King and His rule over our lives.

Concept: Kingdom = Church

Danger lies in the ability of our enemy to penetrate and influence the God’s people
People get converted to the church instead of to Christ
This gives Satan the ability to take well intended statements and twist them into damaging divisions amongst God’s people.

“Where the Bible speaks we are silent, Where the Bible is silent we speak.”

What the leader says = what God says

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[1]Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament, Page 278. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1997, c1992.

[2]MacArthur, John Jr. The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed., 1 Co 6:9. Nashville: Word Pub., 1997, c1997.